Where's Phil?
by TwentyOneCatWhiskers
Summary: At 1AM, when everything is quiet, dark and peaceful, you would expect all to be sleeping soundly. But not Dan Howell, of course. Dan, being Dan, can sense something is wrong, and what better to do at 1AM than go on a search for your best friend and end up discovering more than you bargained for? (Platonic Phan. Reviews greatly encouraged!)
1. Chapter 1 - Where's Phil?

It was 1AM on a Friday morning and it had only just turned the 30th of September. It was pitch black, silent and a chilly English breeze filled the air… and Dan Howell was wide-awake.

Dan, being Dan, could feel that something wasn't as it should be, even at this early hour. It wasn't an asymmetrical picture or a misplaced souvenir lying about on his desk, it was the silence. Usually, on any other night, Dan would be able to hear Phil either talking to himself or softly snoring, but tonight there was an eerie silence, and he couldn't even hear a shuffle or a creak from the other room.

Instead of brushing it off like he usually would, Dan decided to see if his friend was all right, so he crept into the hallway and knocked, softly, on Phil's bedroom door,

"Phil?" He whisper-shouted, "Are you alright?"

But no cheery reply assured him that all was well.

"Phiilllllll?" Dan repeated, hoping for at least _some_ sort of affirmation of well-being, but still not a sound, so Dan pushed open his friend's bedroom door and peeked his head around the dark, dark room.

As it was 1AM, Dan couldn't see a thing, so he stumbled over to the bed in hopes of finding Phil there, perfectly fine and sleeping soundly, but when he stuck his arms out over the bed and felt around, there was nothing there.

On any usual night, Dan would just assume that Phil was in the kitchen, eating all the cereal, but tonight – when he could feel something was wrong anyway – he wasn't too sure that would be it. Besides, if Phil would have tiptoed into the hall that night, Dan would have heard him, but a rather concerned Dan decided to wander into the kitchen anyway.

Flicking on the lights and drearily looking around, he saw that the kitchen was completely empty.

"PHIL?" He called, desperately, when he saw nobody about.

Biting his lip, Dan edged out of the kitchen and bounded down to the front door. He pushed down the door handle and found that it was locked… Phil couldn't have used Dan's keys: they were safe and sound, laying about on his bedside table, and Phil always kept his own keys on his desk, so clearly he was either inside, hiding somewhere, or had somehow fallen through a wormhole.

This was when Dan decided that it would be best to see if Phil's keys were, indeed, lying idly on his desk as he supposed them to be, as they hardly ever left their place (unless Tesco had missed out an item from their online order and he'd had to begrudgingly traipse down to the store to get it).

* * *

Strangely, the keys weren't, in fact, lying about, and after a thorough search of Phil's desk and drawers, he still didn't find them, so the conclusion was that he wasn't in the house (which would explain a lot, but made absolutely no sense whatsoever).

Quickly getting dressed and putting on a black bomber jacket and some trainers, Dan hurried outside to search for his friend.


	2. Chapter 2 - Alone

Dan was very confused.

No sooner had he stepped out of the door than he had somehow fallen into a giant hole in the ground and was now lying in pitch-blackness, staring up at a purple, shimmering pool of light above him. It was way too high for him to reach, even though he was 6' 2", so all he could really do was sit in silence.

After a few seconds of lying there, awkwardly, Dan heard a cough from opposite him, sounding like it had come from a microphone or a loudspeaker or something.

Sitting up, suddenly, he looked around, but he couldn't see anything in the complete darkness.

"Who's there?" He called out, nervously.

"Hey! Only me!" A female voice replied, Northern-sounding and quite deep, "I'd like to apologise for the inconvenience of your little… trip. Don't worry, I've got it allllllll sorted!"

"Who are you?" Dan asked, murmuring, sounding quite scared.

"That doesn't matter, I'll almost certainly run into you later and introduce myself properly. Anyway, I bet you're wondering where you are, right?"

"…Yeessss..?"

"You've fallen into a wormhole to The Nightmare Dimension – I know, bad name, but I couldn't think of anything better – it's more or less a world formed from popular nightmares and dreams and stuff… it was an experiment, and it went terribly wrong. Don't worry, though, I've put another portal in so you can get out. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea where I've put it, so you're going to have to find it yourself. I'm going to head out and find it, too, soon, so you'll probably come across me at some point. Anyway, whist I turn the lights on, maybe you could tell me your name?"

"Daniel. Daniel James Howell. But people call me Dan," Dan replied, awkwardly, standing up.

"Right, I'll remember that. Strangely enough, Dan, you're only the second person to fall into the wormhole. There's only one other guy. Can't remember his name, like… something like… Philip?"

"Phil!" Dan exclaimed.

"You know him?" The voice asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he's my friend – I've been looking for him! Do you know where he is?"

"Uh… Unfortunately not. He can't have gone far, though, he only fell though about half an hour ago, you'll soon find him. Oh, here come the lights!"

The room brightened up and Dan could see that he was stood in a completely empty room that was entirely metal: metal floor, metal walls, metal ceiling… the only things that weren't metal were a door at the end of the room (which was wooden) and the loudspeaker above it.

"Door's open – just walk straight through! Now be careful, Dan, there's a lot out there waiting for you. I hope you find your friend!" The voice came again, echoing from the speaker, "See you later!"

"Uh… see you in a bit, I guess…" Dan replied, edging toward the door. He couldn't decide whether he was dreaming or whether this was real life, he just slowly opened the door…

Outside his little metal safe haven of peace, he saw a long road stretching ahead in front of him, nettles growing at the sides of it, the moon being the only light in the dark, gloomy sky. Dan didn't really have an opinion on this, only that the gloominess reminded him of his soul.

Seeing no other option, he began to wander down the gravel path, feeling very, very confused and very, very alone.

* * *

Phil Lester was also rather alone and cold. He wasn't usually one to give up, but he hadn't particularly wanted to go on without anybody else, so now he curled himself up into a ball and attempted to assure himself that everything would be all right, though he wasn't doing a very good job.

Curiosity killed the cat, he'd always heard people say, and he was starting to realise why. All he'd wanted that night was some fresh air before he went to bed. He hadn't been feeling too great recently, with all the fuss about The Amazing Tour is Not on Fire, and he'd managed to catch a pretty nasty cold. Thinking that some cold air would brighten him up, he had crept down the stairs to the front door when he was sure Dan was asleep and stepped outside for a while.

Unfortunately enough, that was when he had discovered a huge hole in the ground.

He'd been wandering down the gravel road for a good half hour before he had spied a run-down shack at the side of the path, hidden behind a wall of bushes. He had slipped through the plants and peered inside the window of the shack to see a completely empty room, which he wouldn't usually have found inviting, but if it was an option between sitting in the middle of a forest or in a cosy house, he'd choose shelter at the drop of a hat, so he was now curled up on the floor inside, wishing that he was back home with Dan.

He had made a bad decision in taking shelter in the house, though, as if he had stayed outside, he would have seen Dan wander past, looking rather forlorn. Yet he didn't, and he carried on feeling very abandoned…

Wiping his eyes on his shirt sleeve, he hid his face between his knees and waited. What he was waiting for, he didn't know, he only wished it would hurry up.


	3. Chapter 3 - You Can't Run

Phil hadn't really listened to the voice from the loudspeaker when it had been talking to him; he was too deluded to think straight, and the only bit he'd heard was 'a world formed from popular nightmares' and now it was replaying itself in his head and he was really regretting entering his little timber lean-to of peace, as he couldn't stay there forever, but at the same time, he really didn't want to step outside.

If he could have one thing at that moment, it would have been a hug from Dan.

Just as he was contemplating what to do, he was sure he heard something behind him… something like radio static…

Frowning, he turned around, but saw nothing behind him.

If Dan had been there, Phil thought, he would have been freaking out (if there was one thing Dan was scared of, it would be static).

Standing up so he could run away at any time, Phil peered out of the window and looked about the dark forest, his vision blurred.

The whole thing reminded him very much of Slender – the woods, the static, the dark – which only intensified his need for a hug.

Deciding to face his fears, he slowly crept out of the hut and into the open…

* * *

As he wandered, absent-mindedly, down the gravel road, Dan thought about just what exactly was happening and how strange and outlandish the whole situation was.

He didn't quite know where he was walking to, as the path just seemed to stretch on forever, into oblivion, but as he walked, he made sure to listen out for any sign of Phil.

Just as he thought nothing would happen, he heard a scream from behind him and he immediately stopped in his tracks…

It sounded very much like Phil.

Dan spun around and sprinted back along the path to where he'd hear the shout in hopes of finding his friend again, and after only a few bounding steps, he saw his friend run out of the forest and onto the path, looking distressed.

Dan would have run to him, and he tried, but just then, a glass wall seemed to form itself right in front of him and he couldn't move forward however hard he tried. He threw himself at the invisible wall restraining him but to no avail: it didn't smash or crack or even chip.

"PHIL!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Phil seemed to hear him and turned to see Dan hammering his fists against the glass. He started to run towards him, but just as he did, a very tall and very thin figure appeared behind him, out of nowhere, and reached out a very long, slender arm to him…

"DAN, HELP ME!" Phil yelped, loudly, but before he could even reach the wall, the figure touched his shoulder and, with a last desperate call for help, Phil faded away, only a few black, shimmering sparks marked where he had been, slowly floating to the ground until they, too, washed away.

Dan fell to his knees, mouth open wide, a few salty tears forming themselves in his eyes. He couldn't think, couldn't speak – he was too in shock. Had he _really_ just seen his best friend… die?

He couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed.

He'd seen the fear in Phil's eyes, that glimmer of hope that shone in his them and the terror on his face as he saw Dan's expression, and he knew that something was behind him – he knew that he was going to die – and his first response wasn't to fight, it was to reach Dan.

Dan almost wanted the ground to swallow up underneath him…


	4. Chapter 4 - Ciara

Dan landed with a thump.

He'd been doing a lot of falling tonight, he noticed.

When he'd wanted the ground to swallow him up, he hadn't really meant it, but ho-hum: here he was.

He had his eyes closed at the moment, not really wanting to open them and see the inevitable horror that awaited him this time. The fact that he could hear bubbling was very concerning, and he was also getting suspiciously hot.

The sweat dripping from his forehead, he sat up and opened one eye to look about…

His eyes immediately started watering from the sweltering heat. He saw, through the tears in his eyes, that he was sat in a very strange cave-like place with lava lakes surrounding him and magma-falls slowly dripping into them. The ground he was sitting on was rock: a black, shiny, stony ledge that was only just big enough for him to lie down. It was a very high ledge, as there was a sheer drop from either side, down into the pools of molten rock below.

Dan clung onto the edge of the rock and peered over the side to the fiery lakes beneath him. He was starting to get rather faint.

He couldn't quite understand why he wasn't burning.

Just as he was wondering how on earth he was supposed to get out of this place, he heard a gurgle from behind him – not the lava-y gurgle of molten lava bubbling away, but a throaty growl that sounded like it came from some sort of animal…

Dan swallowed and slowly turned his head around to see the largest and most formidable dragon he had ever seen (to be fair, it was the only dragon he'd ever seen), and its head was right in front of him, beady yellow eyes glaring at him as black smoke emanated from the nostrils of the huge, red monster.

Just as Dan thought he was sure to die like his friend before him, a voice spoke up from above.

"OI! STOP IT!" It yelled, harshly.

Looking up, Dan saw a figure with dark grey wings hovering above the dragon's head, looking rather annoyed and fed up. The red reptile lifted its giant head to look up at the figure and he seemed to calm down, getting less cross and looking more… discomfited.

"I've told you before, Haben, you're not supposed to eat people. Now go on, go! Off to bed!" The figure snapped, arms folded.

The dragon surprisingly obeyed, wading back through the fire an under a rock arch to inevitably go and sulk.

The winged character fluttered down to stand in front of Dan on the tiny rock ledge and smiled. It was a woman, quite short (around 5' 2") and young, maybe about in her twenties, wearing a beige jacket with a blue anchor motif sewn onto it over a black vest top. She had a black rucksack thrown over her shoulder, chocolate brunette hair down to her shoulders and hazel eyes. She was looking rather tongue-tied as she stood there, holding a gloved hand out to Dan,

"Hey!" She said at last, "Don't worry about Haben – he's harmless really. Anyway: you're Dan, aren't you?"

"Uh… yes, I am…" Dan coughed, awkwardly, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you in person at last! The name's Ciara, how are you finding the Nightmare Dimension?"

Dan didn't reply at first. He could feel that his voice was going to break if he tried to say anything – he was still too distraught about Phil's death to even think of anything to say.

Ciara's face fell,

"Oh, I'm sorry, I suppose I shocked you-" she started.

"No, no, it's not that," Dan mumbled, his eyes watering.

"Oh? Well, what's the problem? I can help you out if you tell me."

"I'm not sure you could… it's my friend, you see…" Dan choked, looking away, "…He… he's…"

"He's what?" Ciara asked, concerned, cocking her head to the side.

"… I don't think I can say…" Dan sobbed, quietly.

"Oh-" Ciara said, suddenly, getting the gist, "Look, it might have appeared as that, but I'm sure-"

"He's dead; I saw it happen!" Dan snapped, tears in his eyes, "And there's nothing either of us can do to get him back!"

"Look, listen to me, Dan…" Ciara sighed, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Not everything in this place is entirely as it seems: you get eaten by some sort of monster and end up falling through a portal into a field of poppies. I'm sure we'll find your friend as we go around, but right now, we need to get out of this place and I know a way out, but you have to trust me, understand?"

"Why _should_ I trust you? You _invented_ this place, didn't you?"

"I didn't invent it, I just found it and modified it a bit, but that doesn't matter. I'm not the bad guy, I'm just a bit… surprising. Look, it's a decision between standing here forever or following me and possibly finding your friend. Now, will you come with me, _please_?"

Dan sighed and nodded, reluctantly.

"Great!" Ciara smiled, wanly, taking her hand away and pointing to another tall ledge to the side of them, "There's a bit of a staircase leading down from here if you'd care to come? Just be careful you don't slip…" and she hopped onto the first rock step.

Dan followed suit, the gaps between the steps no match for him and his long legs. He followed the Ciara down the staircase, still upset about Phil and still confused at his apparent new friend.

He only hoped that she was genuine…

It was true: it wouldn't be unreasonable to mistrust her – she certainly across as quite enigmatic – but she was his only hope if he ever wanted to be reunited with his friend, and he saw no other choice.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Wild Ride

Dan had never thought he'd lose his friend.

And he'd certainly never thought he'd lose him like _this_ …

It wasn't dramatic – not quite – and it wasn't even that emotional, it just seemed to happen all at once. One minute he was there, and the next… he was gone… And even thought he was scarred, distraught even, Dan didn't really feel that… sad. It was as thought it hadn't happened: as though it wasn't real.

Maybe Ciara was right: Phil was still out there somewhere.

Dan almost hoped that this _wasn't_ the case. He thought it highly unlikely that he'd find and be re-united with Phil in the so-called 'Nightmare Dimension', and the last thing he'd want for his friend would be for him to be trapped in this horrible place forever.

He felt somewhat safer around his Nightmare tour guide, though, and at the moment, as he thought, he was following her down the pillar staircase above the magma lakes, and they were reaching the end where there was a doorway set in the rock wall.

"Just through here is shelter," Ciara proclaimed after a while of silence, pointing to the door as she stepped down from the last ledge onto the ground, "We'll be safe in here. For a while, at least, then we'll have to go and find your friend."

"You really think we'll find him, don't you?" Dan sighed.  
"Of course I do! Anything's possible if you have enough nerve, Dan – isn't that right?" Ciara smiled, patting him on the shoulder.

Dan was silent. He stayed silent, too, as Ciara opened the door with the press of a big green button beside it and ushered him inside.

The room beyond the door was bigger than Dan had expected. It had white walls and black tiles on the floor that were so shiny they reflected whoever stood on them like a mirror. At one end of the room there was a glass cabinet on the wall that held what looked like a samurai sword, and under it, another door.

Turning around, Dan saw, to the right of him, a long tube-like object with a door in it and a control panel on the side. It looked rather technological and very suspicious.

"What's this?" He asked, pointing to it.

Ciara turned to him and cocked her head to the side,

"Oh, that? That's a cloning machine. We don't need that. It was there before I found this place… in fact, everything was… I'm not even sure if it works, I've never tried it. Don't touch it, though: could be dangerous… anyway, that's not necessary information. Now, I'm sure I saw a cabinet of food and medicine around here somewhere last time I was about…" and she bounded over to the other side of the room.

There were four cupboards at the left of the room, all white and comparable to ones you'd find in a science lab.

Ciara threw open every cabinet and dug inside for anything useful: food, water, scarves in case they ended up anywhere cold… it took her a while, but eventually she gathered together a flask of water, a packet on un-named biscuits and some bandages. Just in case.

"Ready, Dan?" She asked, standing up. Dan appeared in front of her, brushing his jacket down,

"Yeah, sure, where are we going next?" He replied.

"I can't remember; let's find out," Ciara smiled, stuffing her collection of items into the rucksack over her shoulder before walking over to the door and opening it.

Outside their door was a track: a mine cart track.

"Ohhhhh, yeah, I remember now!" Ciara sighed, "Right, Dan, you see that mine cart over there?"

Dan turned to his right to see a rusty mine cart, lying idly to the side, looking as if it would fall apart if you so much as touched it.

"Uh… what about it?" He asked, uncertainly.

"You shut the door, I'll start pushing it back onto the track. There are stairs down to the end of the track, but it'd take ages getting down them and we want to save as much time as we can," Ciara replied, heading over to the cart and giving it a push toward the track's start.

Dan wasn't too sure the track was a good idea: he'd rather have gone down the steps to the end, even if it _did_ take longer. He shut the door behind him anyway and wandered over to help Ciara.

"Are you sure this is safe?" He asked as they set the cart on its rails.

"Ah, it'll be fiinnneeee…" Ciara scoffed, "And besides, if it did break, I could always fly you down."

Dan wasn't sure that Ciara could carry his weight, but at least her re-assurance gave him a little hope that maybe he would live.

He and Ciara clambered into the mine cart and held onto the sides, tightly.

"Now," Ciara warned, "The first part of the trip is going down: there's a really steep drop so if you don't like heights, I'd suggest closing your eyes," and she knocked the cart forward to set it off.

As she had said, the track dropped away into what seemed, to Dan, like an almost vertical descent to his inevitable doom. But they rolled toward it anyway.

They slowed just before the drop as if to intensify the trepidation and Dan held his breath as Ciara turned to him,

"Ready?" She asked.

Dan would have said no, but he didn't have time, as just then, the cart plunged into the darkness, zooming down the perpendicular track at full speed like a formula four racing car, the wind from the decent blowing through the duo's hair.

" _Wooo!"_ Ciara laughed. She was immensely enjoying herself, "Isn't this _great_ , Dan?" She asked, gazing to Dan.

Dan looked terrified.

"Hey, don't worry: it'll all be over soon!" Ciara laughed, grinning like a cat from Cheshire, throwing her hands up into the air like she didn't care about dying.

Dan just held on tighter.

Ciara was right, though, and they soon slowed down when they reached the ground and carried on along the rails until they finally stopped.

Ciara climbed out of the cart, brushing herself off and shaking her head to right her balance.

"Coming, Dan?" She asked, looking over to her friend.

Dan was curled up on the bottom of the mine cart, hands still gripping onto the front of it. He was shaking like a leaf and looked rather faint.

"Are you OK?" Ciara asked,

"I- I- I'm.. F-f-fine, I th-th-think…" Dan stuttered back, still shaken from the ride.

Ciara sniggered at Dan's white-knuckled grip on the front of the cart and let him sit for a while as he got his breath back.

"I'm coming, don't worry," Dan coughed, eventually, peeling his fingers from the metal and climbing out, his legs still wobbling.

"Great!" Ciara smiled at him, swinging her backpack round her other arm and onto her back, "Shall we go?"

"Uh… where does that lead?" Dan asked, noting a small door behind them.

"Oh, that? That leads you to the… uh… 'boss level', as it were, of the Nightmare Dimension. We could go through, but I doubt that your friend would be there already. Besides, you're still shaking; you don't want to be doing any fighting right now. Now come on: we've got to find Phil!" And she bounded away down a corridor.


	6. Chapter 6 - Hope

Dan and his tour guide had been wandering the Nightmare Dimension for quite some time, making their way through rooms and passages that seemed to never end. Ciara seemed to know the best routes and where the stores and safe rooms were situated, but still no sign of Phil.

Dan was starting to lose hope.

To be blatantly honest, he'd lost hope long ago and was clinging onto one last strand of optimism that maybe all was not lost, but inside he really just wanted something to eat him, too, so he wouldn't have to live with the grief.

When he had been asked what he would do if Phil died, he had replied that he would be really depressed and that you might as well kill him, too. He never really expected that he'd ever really feel that way, but here he was.

And it was worse than he had expected.

But still it didn't feel real.

To take his mind off the pain, Dan turned to Ciara and cleared his throat,

"So… how long have you been here?" He asked, quietly.

Ciara glanced back over her shoulder to him briefly before looking down to her feet as she walked. The duo were currently strolling down a city street that was mysteriously abandoned, the street lights flickering above them and the only sounds being the flurry of a newspaper blowing across the pavement or the creak of an unlocked door knocking open and closed again. Ciara had assured Dan that they were more-or-less safe, as nobody was around, but that it was still best to keep quiet.

"Me?" Ciara replied, as though she hadn't heard correctly, "Well… I've been here a while. It's not that I can't get out: I can leave whenever I like. I'm just trying to fix this place. In fact, I'm trying to destroy it," and here her face fell and she was silent.

"And?" Dan pushed.

Ciara coughed before replying,

"You see... that's where this 'boss' comes in. I found this… creature… in another galaxy and I brought him here. He's more-or-less a giant black hole in the shape of a huge… worm… thing. He's slowly devouring this place and so I popped in an exit and stayed here so that I could guide to safety whoever was unfortunate enough to fall into the wormhole. I'm currently attempting to fix the wormhole, actually, and I'm trying to do it before Mr Black Hole Creature eats the whole dimension."

Dan was astounded. His new apparent friend held more power than he'd first thought.

"How did you bring… 'Mr Black Hole Creature'… into the Nightmare Dimension, anyway?" He asked.

Ciara shook her head,

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather not say: that's classified information between me, myself and I. Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about Phil. That's if you don't mind, of course."

"No, no, I don't mind, of course not," Dan replied, shaking his head and wringing his hands out, "So… Phil, huh? Well, there's a lot to say. He's like… sunshine, I think, as oppose to me being like a huge hole of emptiness. He's always so happy and bright, making every situation bearable. And now… well, now he's gone."

"Gone? Nah, of course he's not. He's still out there somewhere, can't you feel it?"

"I don't know: what does it feel like?"

"Hope. Like a fuzzy feeling in your heart. Think about it – you can feel it, I know you can, because I can feel it and I'm a lot like you: empty and bleak, but I can feel it, and I know you can because if he was really gone, you wouldn't even have bothered to go on, you would have laid down and cried, but something's pushing you to go on, isn't it? You know you'll see your friend again and if you know you will then _you will._ Trust me. Now come on, we're almost out of the city – just around this corner is the portal to the lion's den. We should be OK, the lions are usually asleep at this time of day…"

And they rounded a corner into a dark alley where there was a shady door hanging half open, an exit sign flickering its green light above it. Ciara pushed open the door and inside, in the floor, was a shimmering lime green portal.

"Ready?" Ciara asked.

Dan nodded and smiled.

Ciara was right: there was hope: a tiny glimmer of a chance.

He could feel it.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Lion's Den

The lion's den very much spoke for itself. It looked like a gigantic Roman colosseum, the ground covered in sand and a huge gate at the other side of the arena. Seats lined the walls and spectators sat in them, cheering for the next battle.

Dan and Ciara had tumbled through the portal into the middle of the arena, gotten up to brush themselves up and had had only just enough time to take it all in before the gate opposite them slowly opened.

This was when Dan realised why this was called the Lion's Den, as at that moment, a very big and very ferocious-looking lion strolled out of the gateway and lifted his head to emit a thunderous roar.

"What do we do?" Dan asked Ciara, desperately, looking around for anything to defend himself with but saw nothing.

"Just stay calm and don't panic: I can somewhat communicate with the animals in this place, I should be able to calm this guy down…" Ciara replied in a whisper through her teeth. She gazed down at the lion and gave a ginger grin, "Now, look here, mate – maybe we can come to some agreement," she suggested.

The lion didn't look impressed, only shook his head and made his golden mane sway back and fourth. He looked back up at Ciara with a look in his eyes that only a killer could have. There was no swaying this cat.

But instead of ambushing Ciara and killing her, the lion turned to Dan and gave another roar, getting ready to pounce. Dan was going to run but he knew that that would never help the situation so he just stood and swallowed, his saliva stinging his dry throat.

"Hey, don't you dare!" Ciara snapped.

Dan flashed her a warning glare. She must be an idiot to threaten a lion…

The lion swerved around and smacked her square in the jaw with his huge paw, claws leaving scratches on her face.

"Come on, we've talked about this, Tau!" Ciara sneered, "Only harm as self defence! I wasn't going to do anything to you, just don't do anything to Dan."

The lion pounced on her again, aiming for her face, knocking her onto her back and pinning her there whilst Dan slowly edged away.

Seeing as the lion wasn't attacking her, Ciara did nothing to fight back: only defended herself, covering her face with her arm.

"Dan!" She called, "Whatever you do – don't run! Tau would only chase after you. Slowly walk away and try to find something to distract him with. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Hearing this, Tau the lion got up and glared over to Dan (who was currently looking very scared and shaky) before jumping up and running after him, hell-bent on slaughtering him.

Following Ciara's orders, Dan stayed frozen to the spot. If he was honest, he couldn't have moved anyway: he was petrified and couldn't move for the life of him.

Ciara lay on the ground, the breath taken out of her, her grey wings sprawled out in the sand beneath her.

" _Come on…"_ she groaned to herself, " _Heal, heal, heal_ …"

Just as he thought he was doomed, Dan heard a very familiar, deep voice called out from the left of him.

Dan didn't know whether he was imagining the voice at first – maybe he was just hallucinating in his pure terror, but it seemed so… real… he'd know that voice anywhere.

"Hey!" It called out, "If you want to hurt Dan, you'll have to get through _me_!"

Dan didn't dare look to see if the voice belonged to who he thought it did, but he saw Tau look to the left and stop running. A scowl formed itself on his face and he slowly backed away, creeping back to his cage behind the gate.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dan keeled over to catch his breath and then stared to his left… there he saw a very familiar face…

"PHIL!" He called, ecstatically, jumping up and wasting no time in running over to his best friend and pulling him into a warm embrace, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Phil laughed, quietly, and hugged Dan back, almost wanting to cry,

"You must be Phil!" Ciara hummed, happily, suddenly appearing next to them, seemingly unaffected by the lion attack, the scars on her face completely faded.

"And you are..?" Phil asked, turning to her but still keeping an arm around his friend.

"Ciara," Ciara replied, "The voice on the loudspeaker. I'm _so_ glad to finally meet you: I've had to put up with Daniel here being all sad and grumpy. We can't stay here, though. No time to explain – we've got to run!"

Dan looked up at her, one stray tear making its way down his cheek,

"Now?" He asked, innocently.

"Yes, now! Come on, we don't have a minute before they send in more animals!" Ciara explained, spinning around and darting for the other gate: to freedom.

"Come on, Dan," Phil said, grabbing his Dan's hand, "We can't waste any time."

"But Phil-" Dan whined. He really didn't want to break away after only just being re-united with his companion.

"Come on! We can talk later!" Phil smiled, weakly, dragging Dan along to the gate.

Ciara was right, more lions and bears were beginning to come out of no-where: literally appearing in front of them out of thin air.

Dan quickened his pace, the sooner he got out of here, the sooner he could talk to Phil and find out exactly what had happened and how he had survived the 'incident' in the woods.

Or maybe it wasn't time to talk about that just yet – after all, it was still a touchy subject for both of them – maybe the best idea was just to sit down and appreciate that they were together again.

And Dan was going to make sure that nothing separated them ever again.


	8. Chapter 8 - Catching Up

"So, who are you exactly?" Phil asked when the trio of him, Dan and Ciara eventually reached safety.

Ciara looked up to him and coughed as she got her breath back,

"It doesn't really matter," she replied, "I'm nobody special."

Dan laughed,

"You can somehow talk to all the animals here and you somehow made an exit wormhole back to the real world: you have something you're not telling us."

"Because this isn't about me," Ciara frowned, standing up straight, "This is about getting you two back home and safe. We don't have much time, either, so we have to hurry."

"Why can't you tell us?" Phil moped.

"Look around you," Ciara said, holding her hands up, "This is my office."  
"Wha-?" Dan started, spinning around. There was nothing _in_ the office, "How is it an office? It's empty!"

"Not all empty, my friend," Ciara smiled, wanly, pointing to the side to where there was a vault door in the wall, "Through there… is my home."

Dan and Phil were both silent. They didn't quite know how to react.

"You… you live here?" Phil asked.

"Not quite. I live in a ship, you see. I parked it through there. It travels through space and I like to explore planets and dimensions. Thing is, when I landed it here, in the Nightmare Dimension, it… kind of broke the barrier between worlds and opened up a wormhole."

"How?" Dan gawped.

"Doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is getting you to safety. I've managed to put another portal in somewhere with some tinkering about but I still haven't been able to fix the first one. Don't worry, though: when Mr Giant Worm Creature eats up the Dimension, it'll disappear of its own accord. The only thing to do now is to get you out of here before that happens. We don't have much time, though, so let's go!" Ciara explained, turning around and facing yet another door.

"Wait!" Phil said, suddenly, "Can't we just rest for a bit? I'm so tired…"

"Yeah, let us take a break, Ciara! We can't keep running forever!" Dan agreed. Besides, he wanted to catch up with his friend.

Ciara sighed and begrudgingly consented, sitting down in the corner, slouched against the wall. She, too, was tired out. She partly only agreed because she had remembered the biscuits in her backpack.

"So…" Dan breathed, not making eye contact with his friend, "I think we need to talk."

Phil's face fell,

"Ok..?" He mumbled, nervously.

"We need to talk about what happened earlier in the woods. Where did you go?" Dan asked, his eyes still watering.

"To be honest," Phil replied, "I don't really know. I just closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, I was sitting in the middle of a desert. It was really dusty and empty and horrible and I didn't know where to go so I just curled up and…" here he fell silent.

"You what?" Dan urged, gazing at him.

"Don't judge, but I kinda' cried maybe a bit…"

Dan smiled and slumped against the wall before slowly sliding down and plonking onto the floor.

"That's alright," he sighed, "I did, too."

Phil laughed a short, quiet laugh and joined his friend on the floor,

"Not as much as me, I bet," he said.

"You bet?" Dan replied, putting his head on his knees.

Phil's smile fell,

"But it's OK now, right? We're back together again now," he assured Dan, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "And we're going to get out of this place and go back home and everything will be completely normal."

"You really think so?" Dan asked, frowning.

"I know so," Phil answered, smiling again. He was about to say something more, but was cut off by a startled choke from the side. He quickly glanced around to see Ciara sat there, cross-legged, holding a packet of biscuits.

"Never eat unbranded digestives," she said, her voice trembling as if she had just suffered something unspeakably harrowing. This was enough to bring a smile to Dan's face and he turned to Phil to give him one last hug before standing up again,

"Come on, then, team!" He grinned, "We've got to get out of here before 'Mr Black Hole Creature ' destroys the universe!"


	9. Chapter 9 - Mad Gallop

"And then after the people led me out of the desert, I found myself in a dark city street. I didn't quite know where to go at that point so I just sat down and thought about how weird this whole situation was," Phil continued to explain. He was currently telling Dan about what happened after 'Slender Man' warped him away to the middle of a huge desert, alone and rather traumatised.

"Then what happened?"

That was Dan. He sounded like a child listening to some sort of amazing action story. He, Phil and Ciara were currently strolling, casually, through a medieval-looking town, leaving Ciara completely out of their conversation. That was all right, though – she was busying herself looking out for the next portal. She seemed to know where she was going.

"And then you wouldn't believe it," Phil sighed, "I heard footsteps and I hid. I heard them go behind a building and through a creaky door but I didn't look to see who they were. I followed where I had heard them go when I was sure they were gone and – what do you know – it just so happened to be you and Ciara. It took a lot of courage to stand up to that lion, by the way, so I hope you're happy with me."

Dan smiled and laughed, quietly,

"Why did it listen to you, anyway?" He asked.

Phil shrugged and they both turned to Ciara, who was leading the way ahead of them.

"Tau's not that fierce," she replied, flatly, still flickering her eyes around the town, "He wouldn't even stand up to three people…" and she stopped walking, suddenly, like she'd recalled something very unexpected.

"What's up?" Phil asked as he almost walked into her.

"I've just remembered that the next portal isn't actually in this town," Ciara sighed, putting a hand over her face and dropping her head in dismay.

"Hey, it's OK," Dan replied, poking his head over her shoulder, "How long does it ta-"

He never got to finish his sentence, as just then, a fretful old lady came running up to them, looking like her world was falling apart around her,

"Why aren't you running?" She yelled at the trio, "You have to be quick!"

Ciara stared up at her, confused,

"What's happening?" She asked.

"They're coming!" The old woman shouted, spraying little flecks of spit in Ciara's face as she did.

"Who's 'they'?" Ciara started to ask, but the elderly lady had scampered off just as quickly as she had arrived. Ciara soon got her answer, though, when a huge splatter of blood landed next to her feet.

"Ok, team, let's run!" She yelped as she saw a troop of soldiers marching towards them. The trio swivelled around on their heels and hurried away from the army, retracing their steps, Dan and Phil following Ciara's lead.

"Where are we going?" Phil yelped across to Ciara as he and Dan scrambled after her.

"The stables!" Ciara replied, using her wings as indicators before turning a sharp corner, "We can jump on some horses and gallop to the next portal before the soldiers have chance to follow us. If we hurry, we'll get the horses before anyone else does," she explained.

Phil bit his lip. He'd never been too keen on horses ever since he was a child. It was something about their long faces and their huge stature that made them seem so intimidating. Yet, he didn't really see a way out of this one: Dan was sure to get him onto a horse somehow.

It didn't take them long to reach the stables and when they did, they couldn't really be called 'stables'. They were more just stalls sat outside that were covered by some sort of roof supported by a few long poles in the ground. There were only three horses stabled, but that was alright.

"No time to saddle up," Ciara called, getting her breath back and unlocking one of the stable doors to lead out a dappled grey stallion, "We've got to be quick."

"I'm not so sure about this, Dan…" Phil murmured as Dan clambered onto the bay horse in the second stall,

"You'll be fine, Phil," Dan replied, trotting over to his friend, "It'll be fun, trust me."

Phil wasn't sure it sounded like fun.

"I don't think so, Dan, I think I'll just run along behind…" he mumbled.

"Come _on_ , Phillllll!" Dan moaned with a frown, looking somewhat worried, "If you don't come, the army will find us and kill us all, and I'm not losing you again."

"I'll set off now, you two follow close, OK?" Ciara called to them as she set off at a steady canter.

"We'll be with you soon," Dan assured her, giving Phil a warning glare.

"The one time I went horse riding was the worst day of my life," Phil objected, adamantly.

"I thought you said the worst day of your life was when your mum forced you to eat some cheese before you went swimming?"

" _Besides_ that time."

"Look, Phil, it's not going to be that bad. We're only following Ciara to the portal and we don't even have to gallop all the way," Dan insisted.

"Dan, I-"

"If you want, we can share: you don't even have to do anything."

Phil sighed and was about to object before he heard the sounds of trooping footsteps coming from behind and he quickly agreed, climbing up onto the bay stallion. He held on around the horse's belly with his legs and closed his eyes, looping his arms around Dan's waist.

He really didn't think this was a good idea.

Dan urged on their steed and they galloped away just in time before the group of soldiers came round the corner, narrowly escaping death for yet another time that night.

* * *

Outside the town were long fields of wheat and grass stretching out as far as the eye could see, and galloping across them were two horses, side by side, carrying three friends – one of whom had his eyes squeezed shut and his arms almost strangling his comrade. When he eventually decided to open his eyes and look around him, he wasn't met with a very pleasant sight: the fields behind them were ablaze, burning away as the sun set ahead of them, the fire quickly creeping up on them.

"Dan!" Phil whimpered, "The fields are on fire!"

Dan couldn't turn around to see, he just kept his eyes ahead of him and pushed his horse on, speeding up until they were at a mad dash for wherever the next portal was.

Ciara seemed to know where she was going – that was evident by the expression on her face. It was a look of pure determination. She had a responsibility: two lives to look after. It wasn't just her in her little dimension anymore, there were other people with her and she was going to save them if it was the last thing she would ever do,

"It's alright, team!" She shouted to her companions over the sound of thundering hooves, "We're almost there!"

They arrived at a lonely shack in the middle of nowhere a few moments later. The fire was quite a way behind them at this point and they hopped off their stallions and let them loose. Phil was still dizzy and hanging onto Dan's arm as he regained his balance.

"Right: through here is the next portal. I have to warn you, though: it's not going to be pretty…"


	10. Chapter 10 - What's in the Dark

Dan, Phil and Ciara all landed with a heavy thump in the middle of a filthy, cobweb-ridden room, dust flying out from underneath them as they hit the floor.

Rubbing his head, Dan sat up and looked around. They were sat in what looked like a dilapidated dining room in an old Victorian house. It had certainly seen better days: the bay windows were shattered and the wind came in and blew around the curtains, sending a cool chill around the room. The dining table in the centre sat on an old Persian rug and a thick layer of cobwebs and dust covered both the tablecloth and the china plates on top of it. The only decorations in the place were a few creepy-looking family portraits of men looking very grumpy and children looking very sad. The glass in almost all of the frames had cracks in that spread across the whole picture so that you couldn't see what the painting was even of.

Phil decided that the room could definitely use a few more houseplants.

He looked over to Dan, who looked to Ciara, who turned away,

"We're getting close to the end now," she said, "And the nightmares get harder to survive as you go along. This is the third to last stage before the final boss. I hope you're feeling brave – it only gets worse from here."

"But you know a secret way around all the levels, don't you?" Dan said in reply, "You can get us out, can't you? We'll all be fine."

"I can't promise you anything," Ciara answered, frowning, "In the end, you're only as safe as the result of your own actions. And anyway, if we don't find the door, we'll all die anyway"

There was a heavy silence before anyone spoke again,

"Don't worry, Dan," Phil assured his friend, "We'll all be OK. We've come this far, right?"

"Actually, it's you I'm more worried about, Phil," Dan mumbled, "You're so clumsy you'll probably be so happy to see the exit door, you won't look where you're going and you'll fall into an endless abyss like you did when we played Portal 2 blindfolded."

Phil laughed,

"I've told you: don't worry, Dan, I will make sure that my co-ordination is on top form from now on. You can count on me. Now let's go; we don't have all day," he said, standing and giving Dan a hand to help him up before looking to Ciara, "How long do you think we have before the black hole monster eats up existence?"

"I don't know – depends on how hungry he is. At best, I'd say an hour, so we have to hurry. Follow me, I know a short-cut through the basement…"

"The… basement?" Dan stuttered, "But it'll be dark down there!"

"I didn't know you were afraid of the dark, Dan?" Phil teased, "Do you want to hold my hand?"

"No!" Dan retorted, his cheeks flushing, "I'm not scared of the dark!… I'm scared of what's _in_ the dark… That I can't see… Because it's dark…"  
"Oh, come on, Dan: ghosts don't exist – you said so yourself."

"But they might exist in this dimension! It's made of nightmares, after all, and lots of people have nightmares about ghosts!"

"We're taking the short-cut, Dan, and that's final."

"But Phiiilllll-"

"Don't 'but Phil' me!" Phil snapped, his face deadly serious and almost angry, "I know I was scared and stupid but I faced my fears and you know what? I'm still here. We're running out of time, Dan, and if you don't come with us, we're leaving you here!"

Dan's face fell (and if he'd had a tail, it would have fallen between his legs),

"You're not usually like this," he said, innocently.

"I know, I'm sorry, Dan," Phil apologised, his expression softening as he realised he had somehow managed to legitimately scare his best friend, "I didn't mean it. Look, you can hold my hand if you want, there's nothing wrong with that-"

"It's fine," Dan butted in, "You're right: we're running out of time and it's not going to be easy getting to the end of all of this so there's no use making it harder than it already is. Lead the way, Ciara, we'll follow suit."

* * *

Outside the dining room was a long hallway with six doors leading from it – three on either side. It was just as run-down as the dining room, only more terrifying because there were no windows and their only light was a flickering chandelier with six candles in it, yet only two were lit, and even they looked as if they were about to go out. Ciara led the way down the hall into the shadow at the end of it. When the trio entered the shadow, they found that it actually led into another very long hall.

"Nobody thinks of coming down here, they only go through the doors, and that's where they get stuck. This shadowy hall leads down to the basement – now be careful here, there's steps – and even if they did come down here, they wouldn't stay in the basement after they'd set eyes on it. There's nothing down there, but sometimes nothing is worse than being outwardly scary."

"Wait, did you just say that nobody thinks of coming down?" Dan asked as he, Phil and Ciara made their way down the stone steps.

"I did indeed."

"But earlier you told me that Phil and I were the first ones to fall into the wormhole."

"You are. The Nightmare Dimension is formed from popular nightmares and if lots of people dream about being stuck in a creepy house, it ends up here. I meant that nobody, when they have this dream, ever thinks to explore the shadows. Ah! Here we are! Not long now until we're out of this place," Ciara smiled as they reached the cold floor.

It was completely pitch black and Dan could see his hand even if he held it in front of his face. He really hoped Ciara knew where she was going.

"Stay close by me, OK, Phil? I don't want to lose you and I don't want you to lose us."

"I'll do my best," Phil replied. His voice sounded as if he was smiling, but Dan couldn't be sure. After all, he couldn't see anything.

"What are the next two stages like, Ciara?" Dan asked, attempting to make conversation and prepare himself for what was to come.

"Next one's set in a castle," Ciara replied, "Can't remember exactly what happens, but it's certainly more exiting than walking through this cellar. You two remember to stick close together; we can't afford to lose each other again..."

* * *

The basement was a very long basement. Not only was it long, but it was chillingly terrifying and seemed to induce an awkward silence, disrupting all conversation with its eeriness. Dan hated it, but he got through it and reached the end of it. They seemed to be whizzing through these dreams in no time – they'd be out of here before they knew it and life would return to normal.

When Dan followed Ciara through the portal and into the daylight, the first thing he saw was a very big and very intimidating throne room that looked like it was from a medieval castle. There were windows lining the walls with pillars in front filling in the spaces between windows. Atop the pillars was a mezzanine that looked down onto the marble floor below. Flags patterned with lions hung from the ceiling along with burning chandeliers, all accentuating the glory of the red throne that sat at the end of it, empty and idle, as if asking to be sat on. Two banners with the same lion decorations embroidered into them hung either side of the throne and a red shield above it. Even above that was a stained glass window, shining a ray of sunlight down the red carpet that reached all the way to Dan's feet.

He was in awe.

"This is amazing! Right, Phil?" He gawped. But no one answered him…

"Phil?" He repeated, spinning around, his voice echoing down the hall, but Phil was nowhere to be seen, "Oh goodness, where's Phil..? PHIL!" He yelled.

Still nothing.

"He's gone," he realised, eventually, gazing to Ciara, "He's actually gone."

For once, Ciara looked genuinely concerned,

"No…" she breathed, "He can't be… there's no _way_ he could have gotten hurt in that basement: it's completely barren…"

"Well, we have to go back and look for him!" Dan insisted.

"We can't," Ciara swallowed, "You can't go back through a portal you just came through…"

And she was right: there was no portal behind them anymore, just a very high and portal-less wall.

"I can't believe we lost him _again_!" Dan hissed, his eyes beginning to water, "Oh my goodness, he's actually going to die, isn't he?"

"Shhh!" Ciara hushed, her eyes widening.

Dan didn't shush.

 _"I told him to stay beside us, why didn't he listen, he never listens…"_ He whimpered. He was getting worried – very worried. Ciara had said that they couldn't afford to lose each other at this point. It was dawning on him that there might actually be a chance that he could be going home without Phil.

"Shhh!" Ciara shushed him again, more desperate this time.

"I don't want to live all on my own!" Dan choked. He would have gone on, but just then, Ciara clapped a hand over his mouth,

" _Shush, I said_!" She whisper-shouted, " _Don't you hear that?"_

Dan shook his head but then realised that he could, in fact, hear something… it sounded like very heavy footsteps… and they were getting louder.

"We have to go…" Ciara breathed, taking her hand from Dan's mouth.

" _We can't go without him!"_ Dan complained.

"Dan, I hate to break it to you… but Phil is going to die. There's nothing we can do… I'm sorry – so very, very sorry."

"No! No, there has to be something! There's always something! Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."

"No, Dan. He's gone. If he hasn't followed us out by now, there's very little chance he will ever do."

"But Ciara-"

"Shush. Come on, we have to leave. NOW!" Ciara hissed.

She turned to go, but just as she did, a giant shadow blocked the light from above the throne. Looking up, she saw red: a huge mass of scales that slowly parted to reveal an eye. A big, yellow, bloodshot eye.

"Oh dear…" Ciara swallowed, "This isn't supposed to happen…"


	11. Chapter 11 - Dying Wish

The huge yellow eye just happened to belong to a dragon. A big, red, angry dragon who came smashing through the wall a few moments later with an almighty crash, bricks flying through the air and cracking against the floor and the wall that Dan and Ciara were standing against.

"Haben…" Ciara breathed when she saw the dragon in all his glory. It _was_ Haben: the dragon who lived in the fire in the cave where Dan found himself after he lost Phil the first time.

"What are you doing here?" Ciara growled as the wall behind her fell away, backwards into nothingness.

It was then that Dan realised that they were standing on a ledge, floating in space, surrounded by stars and other floating islands: buildings, forests, houses… everything.

This was the Nightmare Dimension in all its glory.

Dan got onto his knees to peer over the edge, staring out into space, taking it all in. There were islands as far as the eye could see, glimmering like stars. He spied the forest where he lost Phil, the lava cave where Haben lived (he couldn't see inside it but he knew what it was from the fiery glow it was emitting and the silver dome attached to the side of it – the safe room), he saw the desert where Phil had been sent, the mine cart track he had sped down, the abandoned city, the Lion's Den, the medieval town with the blazing fields, the house with the basement – it was all there along with other places he had never seen before and some places he was glad he hadn't visited.

"Phil could be anywhere…" he mumbled to himself.

"He have bigger problems right now, Dan," Ciara told him, impatiently. She was referring, of course, to Haben, who was making a strange gargling noise in is throat and glaring at Ciara with a look that could only be described as loathing.

"You know why I'm here," he snapped, his voice deep and rich with a rumble in the background, just like you would imagine a dragon to sound, but louder than Dan had expected.

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking," Ciara retorted.

Haben glowered,

"I'm tired of being restricted by you, _Ciara_ ," he growled, "Every day all you tell me is that whatever I do, I mustn't leave the cave. You know very well that you are not my master: you have no power over me and you will never have any power over me. I can do whatever I like and now that you aren't the only human in the Nightmare Dimension anymore, I think it's about time I had some fun…"

Dan had turned around by this point and was feeling very sick, dizzy and tired as he looked upwards to the towering reptile. He knew that if Phil had been there at that moment, he wouldn't have irritated the dragon further like Ciara was doing. They would be gone by now. But Phil wasn't here, of course.

"Fun?" Ciara urged.

"You and your little friends have been struggling through this dimension for so long. It's been so fun to watch, really it has. I know where any of you are at any time. I decided to play a game with you: I would wait until you were nearly at the end of your journey and then destroy you all. It's been a fun game to play. It's ended up very well for me: after you're gone, I can exit through the wormhole and wreak havoc on the world above, no longer restricted by the orders of a tiny winged human. Why did you even bother trying to escape? You're all going to die one day, anyway – even you, Ciara, who can repair minor injuries and heal others' wounds – all things, in the end, are fruitless when your life spans are so short. I have set my heart on escaping to the world above and now my dreams are becoming a reality like how the nightmares of others became real. How ironic that you're going to die in a world of dreams as mine come true…"

Ciara narrowed her eyes but didn't reply.

"What do we do?" Dan asked, his heart beating out of his ribcage. His death seemed imminent and he was still sure that his friend was out there somewhere. He could feel it. Ciara, who had earlier convinced him there was hope, didn't seem too sure, but the fuzzy feeling had returned. Not all was lost.

Ciara didn't say anything in reply to him, only spread her grey wings out and gave them a few beats as she flew up to speak to Haben face-to-face.

"I was going to make it quick," he said, a smirk on his face, "I sent Tau the lion to kill you but he was too much of a coward to do his job and he let you live."

"You'll never get away with your silly little game, Haben," Ciara hissed at him, "And even if you did get up to the real world, there are so many people up there that you would be dead before you knew it. That planet is protected – and not only by me," and she batted her wings and flew into space.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Dan yelled after her, angrily.

"I'M GOING TO FIND THE END," Ciara yelled back as she disappeared. Dan didn't know what she meant by this but he didn't really care. All he cared about was not dying, which seemed very unlikely, seeing as he was trapped with a giant, man-eating dragon.

Haben snarled at Ciara as she disappeared and turned to Dan, reaching out a clawed hand to pick him up and hold him up to his face,

"So…" he growled, "How does it feel to be helpless?"

Dan didn't reply.

"There's nothing Ciara can do to save you: she's abandoned you. I could throw you into the abyss right now if I so wished. Would you like that… _Dan?"_

Dan still refused to respond.

"Seeing as you're about to die… I'll grant you one last request. Anything. Anything at all: you pick!"

"Anything?"

"Anything."

Dan swallowed. He could pick anything at all right then: his dying wish.

"Please... Make sure Phil gets home."


	12. Chapter 12A - 'The End?

The end.

Those two words could mean various things in different contexts: the end of a journey or a book, the end of life – death – or, in the case of the Nightmare Dimension, it meant the final level: the boss level.

The end, was, in fact, the name that Ciara had given to her black hole creature whom she had released into the dimension and that was currently eating up existence.

Ciara had been _sure_ that Haben would follow her and let Dan go, but that didn't seem to want to happen. She _thought_ that her dragon would be more incensed toward her than he turned out to be. She _assumed_ that he would come after her in his fit of anger. But no.

Thankfully, Ciara had a backup plan. She knew the laws of the Nightmare Dimension and one of these laws just so happened to be that if you weren't scared of the monsters, animals and environments that you encounter in the worlds, they wouldn't harm you. But the minute you become afraid, you might as well be dead already.

The one thing that Dan and Ciara needed right now was someone confident and brave enough to stand up to Haben and save them all from imminent destruction. Somebody who would do anything for their friends: even overcome their greatest fears.

There was only one person for it.

Phil.

* * *

Dan was almost in tears. It had all become too much for him. It was all happening so quickly. The whole night had seemed like an endless string of different dangers, running and crying over Phil who never even turned out to be dead after all. But now it was sure to all end, though Dan would have preferred it if the way out had been escape back home to the real world, not being eaten by a huge, red, mythical reptile like it was turning out to be.

Haben laughed a dragon-y laugh in reaction of his request. But really, that was all Dan wanted at the moment. He knew that his friend was out there somewhere, even if Ciara didn't believe him, and he wouldn't want him to die, too. At least let him get home and mourn for a bit. He'd get over it, Dan was sure, and move on with things without him. Phil was good at that: not giving up. He was certainly a fighter if ever there was one. But why did he have to be so untoward..? Phil just always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Dan had no idea how Phil would survive without him to constantly remind him to blow the candles out before leaving the house. These little things were nearly enough to bring a smile to Dan's face, but however hard he tried, he couldn't smile at a time like this. Not with those beady yellow eyes staring him in the face.

"Tell me, Daniel – what's so special about this 'Phil' character, hmm? Why does he matter so much?" Haben asked, a sly smile spreading across his scaly face.

"He's my friend," Dan retorted, somewhat angrily, "The best friend I could ever have. Before I met him, I hated everything about myself, but now I have a home, an unbreakable friendship and the best life I could ever wish for."

"Sickening," Haben spat, "Too bad he's going to die."

"Don't you dare!" Dan snapped, tears in his eyes, "He's done nothing wrong!"

Haben was about to speak up yet again, but was interrupted by an excruciatingly loud rumbling from below his feet. It was getting louder – almost as if something was approaching them. And it was approaching fast.

"What's this..?" He scowled.

All of a sudden, a huge, sienna-coloured snake-like creature slithered up from under them, passing them and shooting into the sky right beside them, inches from their faces.

Dan gritted his teeth in trepidation – his time was drawing near. If Haben didn't kill him, he'd surely be devoured by this… _thing_. Then there would be no chance of saving Phil.

Little did he know, though, Phil did not require saving in the slightest. In fact, he was about to save _him_.


	13. Chapter 12B - The Boss Fight

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Haben roared, "What is all of this NONSENSE?"

Dan was completely traumatised. He'd gone as quiet as a mouse and his eyes were as wide as bottle tops. The only adjectives he could think of to portray this thing that had just appeared before them were 'Huge worm thing' and that sounded vaguely similar to how Ciara had described her black hole monster. This was certainly concerning (as if the whole situation wasn't concerning enough already).

He stuttered, uncontrollably, his teeth chattering with panic as he tried to spit out whatever he was trying to say. He was going to say something witty or meaningful for his last words, but he couldn't think of anything, all that he could manage to yell was-

"PHIL!"

Before promptly choking up and dissolving in tears.

"It's OK, Dan!" A voice called from below him. He didn't know who it was, but it seemed familiar. He definitely knew it from somewhere… but he didn't look down to see who it was – he didn't even want to hear – he had his eyes shut tight.

"It's not over, Dan, trust me!" Whoever it was yelled up to him, "We can work through this together!"

But Dan still refused to listen – and Haben was too in shock to even notice that anyone was there.

Before Dan could even register what was going on, a figure jumped up in front of him. It was Ciara, obviously, flying up to meet him.

"Listen to me," she hissed to Haben, "I'm giving you one last chance to let Dan go. Whatever you do, you're going to die anyway. If you'd have been obedient, maybe I would have taken you away back to your home planet, but as a consequence of your actions, you're bound to die by the black hole creature. I gave you a warning, Haben – I told you what was coming, I gave you a chance, but you didn't listen and now look where you've landed yourself."

"What if I don't let your friend go?" Haben sneered, narrowing his eyes at her and puffing out a black mist of smoke that sent Dan into a coughing spasm.

"Then I'll have my friend – my other friend – force you to release him."

Haben laughed again, like he had done earlier,

"Who's this 'other friend'?" He asked, "The coward who didn't even make it past the dark basement? _He's_ already _dead_ , Ciara, he's not helping anyone!"

"Not helping anyone? We'll see about that!" A confident voice came.

This time, Dan did look down. He stopped his helpless crying and his choking fit and, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, stared down to the marble floor under him.

There, at the end of the long, red, ruffled up carpet, stood somebody who Dan thought he would never see again: Phillip Michael Lester, leaning on a samurai sword in his hand that was pointed into the floor (the same sword that Dan had seen earlier in the safe room Ciara had led him to after rescuing him from Haben the first time). Dan in no way trusted him with a sword.

"So he comes back, does he?" Haben snarled, "The traitor who abandoned his friends to face the end alone? You're no fearless warrior – put that stupid sword down – you're just making a fool out of yourself."

"There's one last thing you can do before you die," Phil frowned, "You can put Dan down. What does it matter to you when you're gone whether he's dead or not? Just let him go and you'll make this a whole lot easier for both of us."

"If I go, I'm taking all of you with me. That's Ciara, your friend, Daniel, and _you_ ," the dragon snapped back, sending a burst of fire at him, which Phil somehow managed to dodge.

"Want to do this the hard way, then?" Phil asked, jabbing his sword in Haben's general direction, "How about a fight?"

"PHI-" Dan started to shout, but Ciara clapped a hand over his mouth before he could go on.

"Dan, shush," she hushed, "Phil's fine, he can do this."  
"He can't fight a dragon!" Dan yelped, "He can't even go a full day without breaking something!"

"It's different here," Ciara replied, her face grave, "If you're not scared of something here, it won't hurt you."

"He still can't FIGHT A DRAGON!" Dan argued.

"Listen, Dan, give him a chance. He's trying very hard to not be scared, but if it means saving you, he'll do anything he can. That's what friendship is, and you have one of the best friends you could ever have, I can assure you of that," Ciara said, squeezing his hand, gently.

"A fight?" Haben growled all of a sudden, "You don't stand a chance! But I suppose it's just a quicker way to get rid of you…" and he shot another burst of fire, which was dodged.

Dan watched this take place in trepidation. He feared for his friend's life as he saw him leap out of the way of various fireballs and blazing spurts of flames.

 _'Just skipping all over the place isn't going to kill a dragon: you have to do something!'_ he thought to himself, but decided it best not to speak.

In a spurt of energy, Phil dashed forward, his sword above his head (Dan was 90% sure he was going to drop it on his head) and threw it forward with all his might to land it in Haben's leg before quickly drawing it out again and dodging another burst of angry fire.

At this point, Dan couldn't bear to watch any longer; he covered his eyes and bit his lip so that all he could hear was Phil's occasional short, sharp yelps, the sound of fire blazing through the air and the frantic flapping of Ciara's wings.

He was shaking, violently (even though he didn't have much room to squirm: he was wrapped in a dragon's fist) and dreading the inevitable scream of pain: the last sound he would ever hear come from Phil Lester.

The room filled with sounds and Dan was sure that it would all end soon – it had to do – otherwise they'd all be swallowed up by 'Mr Black Hole Creature' A.K.A 'The End', who was currently flying about behind them, destroying everything and anything until almost all of the Nightmare Dimension was gone and all that remained was the marble floor that Haben was stood on and that Phil was frenetically running about on.

For one last look at his friend, Dan opened his eyes to see Phil's terrified face as one final burst of fire shot out of the dragon's mouth.

It all happened so quickly, but Dan felt himself plummet downwards and the grip around him loosen.

He couldn't believe it.

The dragon was… dead.


	14. Chapter 13 - There's No Place Like Home

As the dust settled and the smoke subsided, Dan Howell sat up straight and coughed, clearing the smoke from his lungs, before rubbing his eyes and looking upwards to see Phil's tall and lanky form above him, holding out a hand, a timid smile on his face.

Dan was still in shock. He looked to his left and saw Haben lying on the cold floor, not yet _dead_ , but completely exhausted. The handle of a sword was poking out from his chest – from his heart – he was bound to breathe his last soon; and if he didn't, the black hole monster would certainly eat him up.

Around them was nothingness. They were just floating on a marble floor in the middle of a black abyss, only kept company by the giant snake creature flying about behind them. He was approaching them, slowly but surely, getting ready to devour the last of the islands.

Dan took Phil's hand and stood up without saying a word, his face blank and expressionless. He looked his friend in the eyes as Ciara stood to the side, inspecting the body of Haben whilst keeping a keen eye on The End.

"Hey, Dan," Phil smiled, gingerly, "Good job hanging in there."

Dan didn't reply: he just brought his arm forwards to smack Phil square in the jaw.

"OW!" Phil yelped, "What was that for, Dan?"

"WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" Dan yelled at him, giving him a hefty shove.

"What- what've I done wrong?" Phil asked, innocently, rubbing his aching jaw, his voice weak.

Dan didn't answer his question; he pulled Phil into a warm hug, squeezing the life out of him,

"Phil, you could've gotten yourself killed, you huge fool!" He half-laughed and half-sobbed, "I hate you so much, you idiot…"

Phil smiled, wanly, and hugged his friend back. He didn't quite know how to respond so that he wouldn't get slapped again.

"No, no – I don't hate you," Dan corrected himself, shaking his head, but then after a while of silence, decided he was right the first time, "No, I hate you, you're a complete fool, you- but I'm so… proud of you…" and he burst into tears again.

"Alright, guys, no time for hugs right now," Ciara interrupted them, clearing her throat, "In case you hadn't noticed, we currently have a huge black hole flying towards us. Got to get a move on and all that: can't just stay here standing around like cheese at fourpence."

"You're right," Dan coughed, composing himself and letting go of Phil, who was currently quite confused, fairly tired and very dizzy, "But where are we supposed to go?"

"Down," Ciara replied, simply, "The exit to the real world – I found it – it's below us. The creature hasn't destroyed it yet but we don't have much time. Hold onto my hand, Dan, and Phil, you hold onto Dan."  
Dan and Phil did as they were instructed, slightly scared of what was to come next.

Just as The End neared the marble floor – the last island – Ciara launched herself and her companions from the ground and into the black abyss.

The velocity of the fall was enough to knock the air out of both Dan and Phil – who were, obviously, not used to flying – and cause them feel rather faint.

"You see that shimmering light down there to the left?" Ciara shouted to them over the sound of rushing wind, "Try and guide yourselves toward it – that's the way out!"

They did their best and, even though Phil never seemed to know his lefts from his rights, they managed to guide themselves into a position where they would fall straight through it.

Ciara frantically flapped her wings to slow their fall, even though both Dan and Phil were over 6'2" and Ciara was only 5'2". She managed, though, and none of them were seriously harmed when all of a sudden they hit the rough tarmac of the streets of London.

* * *

"We…" Dan mumbled, breathlessly, as he lay on his back in the middle of his two friends (They looked as if they were posing for a stock photo of 'three friends stargazing'), "We did it… we _actually_ did it!" And he looked over to Ciara who, for the first time since going down the mine cart track, laughed.

"We certainly did!" She grinned as the portal closed up above them, "Great work, team! How about a high five?" And she sat up to high-five them both.

Phil's high five didn't quite work because Dan had cut off all circulation in his hand with how tight he had been holding on and he had gained some rather deep fingernail marks on his knuckles. But never to worry: they were home. Home at last…

"I can't believe we actually got out of all that alive!" Phil grinned, sitting and giving Dan a push to help him up.

"I can't believe _you_ got out alive, Phil," Dan retorted, "You nearly didn't, too. I really thought I'd lost you those two times. Never do that again, Phil, promise me."

Phil laughed,

"I promise I will never again accidentally fall into a wormhole and access a dimension of nightmares," he said, "You don't have to worry."

"I suppose I'll be leaving you two, then," Ciara coughed as she stood up, "I'm sure I'll see you sometime."

"Oh, I'm sure," Phil nodded, shaking her hand, "Thanks for everything, by the way. That includes protecting Dan…"

"Hey!" Dan pouted, "I didn't need protecting! I'm sure I could have gotten around that place fine all by myself."

Both Ciara and Phil raised their eyebrows and gave him a disapproving look at exactly the same time.

"Ok, maybe not…" Dan admitted, smiling, "Thanks for your help, Ciara: neither Phil nor I would be here right now if it wasn't for you."

"It's OK – a pleasure," Ciara replied, "See you again, Dan, Phil. Until next time," and she gave a bow before dashing off down a dark street.

Dan and Phil watched her leave in silence, still slightly shaken. All they could really think about was how thankful they were to be finally in the real world again.

Turning to his friend, Dan gave a sigh and stood up,

"Come on, Phil," he smiled, holding out a hand, "Let's go home…"

* * *

It was dark in Dan and Phil's apartment as they entered through the door. They could instantly smell the scent of… well… home. A comforting smell it was, too. Phil would have described it as coffee-scented. Dan, on the other hand, would describe it as beechwood: his favourite scented candle.

They both trooped up the two flights of stairs to the living room (which took them a while because of their extreme exhaustion) and collapsed on the sofa in a fit of laughter about the irony of the whole situation.

"So," Dan started, eventually, "How _did_ you do it?"

"Do what?" Phil asked, out of breath.

"Get back to the marble floor? Ciara surely couldn't have taken your weight."

"Of course she couldn't," he laughed, "When I got lost in the basement, I found another portal that I accidentally tripped down. Just so happened to transport me to this 'safe room' thing where there were loads of cupboards and stuff. I stayed there for a bit and looked around to see if there was anything worth taking when suddenly Ciara appeared. The black hole monster had been busy eating the universe, so outside the door there was nothing. We took this big samurai sword thing and hitched a ride on the back of the universe-destroying worm. We jumped off when we passed you. I'm quite proud of you, actually. It must have been terrifying to be in that situation: Haben could've eaten you at-"

Dan clapped a hand over Phil's mouth,

"Stop right there," he butted in, " _You're_ proud of _me_? _I'm_ proud of _you_! You fought a _dragon_ , Phil! That was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my entire life!"

Phil smiled and his face went red,

"Thanks, Dan," he grinned, "Raised in the North: what do you expect? Now, how about making a coffee for your favourite flat-mate?"

"Seriously, Phil? Coffee before bed?"

"Decaf," Phil demanded, a smile on his face, "Milk, no sugar, thanks."

Dan sighed and stood up,

"Fine. I can't really refuse after you saved my life, can I?"

"Not really," Phil smirked, curling himself up in the sofa crease that Dan had created by leaning back into the cushions for 12 hours each day.

"I was really worried about you, you know?" Dan mumbled, "I know it sounds cheesy and all, but really I was."

"I was completely safe," Phil replied, assuredly, "It was you who I was worried about. I mean, you were almost eaten by a dragon, so…"

"Don't bring that up, Phil, I don't want to think about what would've happened if you hadn't turned up in time."

"I'll always turn up in time."

"Was that supposed to be emotional?"

"Maybe."

Dan sniggered and slipped into the hall and Phil yawned as he closed his eyes to think about his day. He never thought he'd be so happy to see Dan in his life. He was sure that their life would sometime return to normal, but even when it did, neither he nor Dan would ever forget the time they survived the Nightmare Dimension. And maybe they _would_ see Ciara again one day. Phil was still vaguely confused as to who their nightmare tour guide actually was; she appeared human – save from the wings, of course – but she had somehow transported a huge black hole snake into a strange dimension that she somewhat knew her way around. On top of all that, she could talk to animals and open exit wormholes to escape to reality.

Best not to think about it, Phil decided. If he _did_ see Ciara again, he could ask her all about it. Until then, she remained a mystery.

Hearing the kettle click off, Phil got up off the sofa – only just managing to pull himself out of the sofa crease that he had sunk into – and brought together enough energy to walk to the kitchen.

"I suppose I'll go to bed now," he coughed, making Dan jump (Phil had crept up on him very quietly).

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Dan nodded, stirring the coffee with the teaspoon in-between his fingers, "You deserve it," and he handed the cup to Phil, who set it down again on the countertop beside him.

"What?" Dan hummed, looking at him oddly, "Something wrong?"

"No, no," Phil replied, clearing his throat and shaking his head, "Nothing – I'm fine," and he looked back to Dan in silence. Without another word, he stumbled forward and hugged his friend one last time.

After a good while, he let go, brushed himself down, picked up his coffee cup and walked out of the kitchen.

Dan was slightly surprised. He stood idly in the middle of the kitchen for a few moments before poking his head around the doorway and calling,

"PHIL?"

"Hmm?" Phil replied, looking out from his bedroom door and almost spilling his coffee, "What is it?"

"Uh… before you go… Phil…" Dan stuttered, awkwardly, trying not to sound emotive or soppy, "This was the most fun… I've ever had."

THE END


End file.
